at the Interface of Cell and Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Bioengineering and Clinical Research.
The KEENAN RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES
at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
Chair: Dr. Boris Hinz
Coordinator: Rachel Yeo
Friday, May, 29, 2026, 1 - 2 pm
Dr. Kim CONNELLY
MD, Director Keenan Research Centre, Unity Health Toronto, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
'The heart-brain axis: The next frontier!!!'
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Next Speaker
The Keenan Research Seminar Series provides a forum for presenting the latest research advances by scientists located within and affiliated with the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science at St. Michael’s Hospital, as well as invited speakers from the greater Toronto area.
Every month we feature contributions from the:
Chair: Dr. Venkat Bhat
Coordinator: Andreia Moretzsohn
Upcoming Speakers - Fall & Winter 2025
Friday, May 29, 2026
'The heart-brain axis: The next frontier!!!'
Dr. Kim CONNELLY
MD, Director Keenan Research Centre, Unity Health Toronto, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Friday, June 5, 2026
TBD
Dr. Glaucia MELO
Assistant Professor at the Computer Science Department at Toronto Metropolitan University
LKS Auditorium, iBEST Lecture
Friday, June 12, 2026
Collective cell movements: cellular and molecular dynamics at the leading edge
Dr. Rodrigo FERNANDEZ-GONZALES
PhD, Professor & Canada Research Chair in Quantitative Cell Biology and Morphogenesis, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Multicompartmental 3D Models to Study Stromal–Immune–Epithelial Interactions and Drug Responses under Reconstructed Gastrointestinal Tract Microenvironment
Dr. Bruno SARMENTO
PhD, Professor of Drug Delivery at Institute of Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, Portugal
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Friday, June 26, 2026
TBD
Dr. Benita HOSSEINI
PhD, Assistant Professor at the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, iBEST Lecture
SUMMER BREAK
Friday, September 11, 2026
TBD
Aereas AUNG
PhD, Assistant Professor, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Lecture
Friday, September 18, 2026
Transitional cell states in renal recovery and conserved reparative pathways
Moumita BARUA
MD, Clinician Scientist at the University Health Network (UHN), Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Lecture
Friday, September 25, 2026
TBD
Dr. Bowen LI
GSK Chair Professor in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, Canada Research Chair in RNA Vaccines and Therapeutics, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
Room #136, iBEST Lecture
Friday, October 2, 2026
Plasma membrane-derived nanoparticles for overcoming biological barriers
Dr. Christos TAPEINOS
PhD, Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Science, Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, University of Manchester, UK
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Friday, October 9, 2026
TBD
Dr. Neil GOLDENBERG
MD, PhD, FRCPC, Staff Anesthesiologist, SickKids Hospital, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Friday, October 30, 2026
Myelination: a gateway for brain plasticity
Dr. Wendy XIN
PhD, Scientist, Donald K. Johnson Eye Institute and Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Friday, November 6, 2026
TBD
Dr. Natasha RAJAH
PhD, Canada Research Chair in Sex, Gender and Diversity in Brain Health, Memory and Aging, Professor of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University
LKS Auditorium, iBEST Seminar
Friday, November 13, 2026
TBD
Dr. Retesh BAJAJ
MBBS, PhD, Interventional Cardiology Consultant, St Michael's Hospital, Assistant Professor of Cardiology, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Friday, November 27, 2026
TBD
Dr. Alexandre (Sasha) DOUPLIK
PhD, Professor of Physics, Toronto Metropolitan University
LKS Auditorium, iBEST Seminar
Friday, December 11, 2026
Circadian rhythms of pain in multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: a translational perspective
Dr. Nader GHASEMLOU
PhD, Senior Scientist at the Krembil Brain Institute and Associate Professor in the Departments of Immunology and Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Toronto
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
PREVIOUS Speakers - 2025/2026
Friday, May 22, 2026
The edge of motion: how calcium signaling shapes actin architecture and cell migration
Dr. Sergey PLOTNIKOV
KRC Seminar
Friday, May 15, 2026
Accelerating Formulation Mixtures with Self-Driving Labs
Dr. Frank GU
iBEST Lecture
Friday, May 8, 2026
Inflammation and Invasion in Oral Cancer: Insights from Spatial Transcriptomics
Marco MAGALHAES
KRC Seminar
Friday, May 1, 2026
Reprogramming metabolism for cancer therapy
Dr. Marianne KORITZINSKY
KRC Seminar
Friday, April 24, 2026
Engineering Porous Biomaterials for Minimally Invasive Medical Devices
Dr. Solmaz KARAMIKAMKAR
iBEST Lecture
Friday, April 17, 2026
MRI for Ventricular Arrhythmia Management
Dr. Graham WRIGHT
iBEST Lecture
Friday, March 27, 2026
Developing the next generation of precision therapies for BRAF mutant cancer
Dr. April ROSE
KRC Seminar
Friday, March 20, 2026
Atherosclerotic Plaque Macrophages Drive Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Dr. Clint ROBBINS
KRC Seminar
Friday, March 13, 2026
Lung Injury: (Regional) Pressure is everything
Dr. Laurent BROCHARD
KRC Seminar
Friday, February 20, 2026
Bio-Interfaced Soft Materials for Point-of-Care and Personalized Medicine
Dr. Shaghayegh SHAJARI
iBEST Lecture
Friday, February 13, 2026
Biological pacemakers: a cell therapy approach to cardiac pacing
Dr. Stephanie PROTZE
KRC Seminar
Friday, February 6, 2026
Electrochemical and functional nucleic acids - Key tools for next-generation biosensing
Dr. Leyla SOLEYMANI
iBEST Seminar
Friday, January 23, 2026
Harnessing multiomics and human tissue models to delineate immune mediated liver disease pathways
Dr. Sonya MacPARLAND
KRC Seminar
Friday, January 9, 2025
Heart Regeneration with Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Dr. Michael LAFLAMME
iBEST Seminar
Friday, December 12, 2025
Artemis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Dr. Armen PARSYAN
KRC Seminar
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Periostin contributes to differential sex-linked gene expression during infarct healing
Dr. Ian DIXON
KRC Special Seminar
Friday, December 5, 2025
Challenges and Opportunities of Human 7 Tesla MRI for Clinical Research
Dr. Kamil ULUDAG
LKS Auditorium, iBEST Seminar
Friday, November 28, 2025
The Recent Growth of Medicinal Chemistry at McMaster University
Dr. Jakob MAGOLAN
LKS Auditorium, KRC Seminar
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Keynote Lecture of the Unity Health Toronto Cancer Research Symposium
Dr. Pamela OHASHI
Unity Health Toronto Cancer Symposium
Friday, November 21, 2025
Translational studies on adiponectin in cardiometabolic disease
Dr. Gary SWEENEY
KRC Seminar
Friday, November 7, 2025
DNA holds the words, but chromatin tells the story in cancer
Dr. Mathieu LUPIEN
KRC Seminar
Tuesday, November 4, 2025, 10:00 - 11:00
Lung Injury, Regeneration, and Fibrosis
Dr. Rachel ZEMANS
Special Seminar
Friday, October 31, 2025
Dr. Dana PHILPOTT
Role of NOD2 in fibrosis associated with Crohn’s disease
KRC Seminar
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Dr. Ellen PURÉ
Fibroblasts and Extracellular Matrix as Potential Targets within Pathogenic Fibrotic Ecosystems
Special Seminar
Friday, October 24, 2025
Dr. David Goertz
Opening and closing blood vessels with ultrasound induced cavitation
iBEST Lecture
Friday, October 17, 2025
Dr. Eugenia Kumacheva
Organoid-on-a-chip platform: From fibrous biomimetic hydrogels to screening biologically active ingredients to machine learning
KRC Seminar
Friday, October 10, 2025
Dr. Chiara Gorrini
Decoding the Tumour Microenvironment for Clinical Breakthroughs
KRC Seminar
Friday, October 3, 2025
Dr. Caitilin MAIKAWA
Biointerfacing Polymer Materials for Sensing and Drug Delivery
iBEST, Lecture
Friday, September 26, 2025
Dr. Boris HINZ
Myofibroblasts, Memory, Mechanics, and Macrophages
KRC Seminar
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Dr. Joel BOERCKEL
On algebra: mechanobiology of development and repair
Special KRC Seminar
Friday, July 11, 2025
Dr. Paola LUCIANI
Patient-centric lipid-based therapeutic approaches to tackle inflammation and fibrosis
KRC Seminar
Friday, June 27, 2025
Dr. Cristina NOSTRO
Human pluripotent stem cell-derived islets: challenges and opportunities for clinical applications
KRC Seminar
Friday, June 20, 2025
Dr. Naimul KHAN
iBEST Lecture
Friday, June 13, 2025
Dr. Michelle BENDECK
Modulating cell adhesion to improve arteries
KRC Seminar
Friday, June 6, 2025
Dr. Costin ANTONESCU
Dynamic nanoscale molecular platforms drive responses to growth factors and metabolic cues
KRC Seminar
Friday, May 30, 2025
Dr. Chenxi QIAN
Label-Free Optical Microscopy
LKS Auditorium, iBEST Lecture
Friday, May 23, 2025
Dr. Brian COX
Systems biology approach to the discovery of subtypes of preeclampsia
KRC Seminar
Friday, May 16, 2025
Dr. Scott HEXIMER
Don’t You Forget About Me: The Search for Fibrosis Targets in the Remote Myocardium
KRC Seminar
